Welcome to Chasing History

Sharing the spirit of the Australian car industry.

Above: A family stands beside their Chrysler Valiant Regal

Straight off the assembly line, Chasing History is a nod to the Australian car industry and the people who were a part of it.

First and foremost, we’ll be meeting and interviewing the Makers. These are the people who designed and built our motor cars as well as their components. We’ll also chat to the Owners of Australian-built cars and revel in the journeys they have been on together.

You will also see a Dashboard section, which is for the stories that need a driveway but don’t fit into the Makers or Owners categories, just like this one.

This website is our workshop and anything we fabricate here will be shared through our Facebook page and Instagram account. We also have a Facebook group called ‘Spirit of the Car Industry’ which we hope will form part of the ongoing conversation around the winddown of the car industry. Plus, anyone who joins gets a unique build plate!

You might also want to check out our car industry manifesto imploring Australians to keep its spirit alive, as well as our attempt at condensing the 120-year history of the car industry into a five minute read.

At this point, we should admit that this wasn’t always going to be a website. For the first couple of years, Chasing History took the form of a doubt-ridden draft for a novel. However, its course changed entirely with a realisation that there was no better way to tell these stories than hear them from the people who lived and breathed the car industry throughout their working lives.

That doesn’t mean we won’t dabble in the possibility of a book down the line, but the cover will remain draped over that project in the shed for the foreseeable future. We’ll look at it again once the website and social media pages are idling smoothly.

As you might expect, we’ll need a big hand from you along the way. It can be tricky to meet the right people and find the best stories behind a laptop in Melbourne’s inner west. So, if you know a maker or owner who we simply have to meet, please nominate them.

That just about covers it for now. For anyone with a passion for the Australia car industry, we’ll go above and beyond to do it justice.

And to the men and woman still experiencing hardship from the winddown of Australian car manufacturing, this project is dedicated to you.

Welcome to Chasing History.